Good news has come from Brussels for Italian DOP prosciuttos. EU reform of the common agriculture policy (CAP) will allow the consortiums that govern them to start planning the volume of prosciutto put on the market just as has happened for cheeses. “It is a tool designed for support,” explained the chairman of the Parma prosciutto consortium Paolo Tanara, “to prevent market crises and a fundamental prerequisite to ensure the market’s balanced development.”
In Italy the new regulation will primarily impact on the Parma and San Daniele varieties, and has been called for by both Italian and French producers who have been pushing for the legislation for years. It was initially expected as a part of a packet of European laws in 2012, it was included in updated market regulations and the new CAP. The Italian Association of Geographic Indication Consortiums (AICIG) expressed its satisfaction for the move.
